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Austin Smiles - The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation

Creating Smiles Improving Lives

copyAnneke Paterson

copyCopyright 2017 Austin Smiles All rights reserved wwwAustinSmilesorg

MissionAustin Smiles ndash The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to advance its mission of creating smiles and improving lives focusing in Latin America and the Central Texas region We provide cleft lip and palate repair surgery for patients in mission countries comprehensive follow-up cleft care for these patients and training for local doctors and nurses in their communities Austin Smiles also provides local program support for all cleft lippalate patients undergoing surgeries and treatment especially in the Craniofacial and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Center at Dell Childrenrsquos Medical Center of Central Texas

About Austin SmilesIn 1985 and 1986 three of the first plastic surgeons in Austin Texas ndash Dr Patrick Beckham Dr Jim Cullington and Dr Jim Fox ndash came together sharing their experiences doing medical mission work around the world and wanting to advance their passion for volunteerism in the local Austin community A local measure was passed providing that all Austin doctors receive compensation for their ldquoon-callrdquo time and the three doctors felt inspired to start their philanthropic initiative with this unexpected ldquoextrardquo funding Working with fellow doctors in the Austin Society of Plastic Surgeons and pooling these funds the idea to provide free cleft lippalate surgery was realized in 1987 when Austin Smiles ndash The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation officially received its 501(c)3 nonprofit certification Starting out doing local surgeriessupporting Austinrsquos Central Texas Cleft Lip and Palate Team and going on mission trips to repair cleft lippalate in Mexico Austin Smiles has since its inception served over 4000 patients and conducted over 80 medical trips to many countries including Brazil Cuba the Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Micronesia Nicaragua and the Philippines

22k+ 289 2067th 375+Trip to

GuatemalaGuatemalan

Lives Changed

copyCopyright 2017 Austin Smiles All rights reserved wwwAustinSmilesorg

Media ContactNatalie deLeon Communications and Development Manager natalieaustinsmilesorg 5124519300

ldquoAustin Smilesrsquo guiding principle has always been to offer

services where needed regardless of any

reward and to treat all patients to the

best of our capability regardless of ability

to payrdquo

-Dr James Cullington Founder

Austin Smiles Proudly Announced Seventh Trip to Guatemala City Guatemala

(AUSTIN Texas) Austin Smiles announces its seventh medical mission trip to Guatemala City Guatemala on Saturday October 14 through Saturday October 22 2017 at Moore Pediatric Surgery Center Austin Smiles will take a team of 41 to evaluate about 120 patients of those approximately 60 will be candidates for surgery

In Austin Smilesrsquo 30-year history Guatemala is one of ten countries served in Latin America Over the last seven mission trips to Guatemala Austin Smiles has helped over 375 patients

Orofacial clefts donrsquot discriminate they can afflict children of any race ethnicity or socioeconomic status While their cause is uncertain poverty and environment may play a role This may be why children in Latin America are roughly two times as likely to be born with orofacial clefts as children in the US and why we focus most of our time in this region

Children with orofacial clefts often face health and developmental problems along with long-term psycho-social impacts Austin Smiles believes no child anywhere deserves to live with the physical and social hardships associated with an un-repaired orofacial cleft

The cost for a trip as a volunteer is $750 while doctors pay their own way Every volunteer takes time out of their busy schedules to help change the lives of these children

ldquoWhile Irsquove realized that these parents are more trusting than anyone I know Irsquove also realized how desperate they are for their child to be healthyrdquo said Laura Holcomb 2016 Guatemala Junior League Volunteer ldquoThe Austin Smiles team is going to make that happen over the next weekrdquo

Press Release For Immediate ReleaseJuly 12 2017

Press Release

copyCopyright 2017 Austin Smiles All rights reserved wwwAustinSmilesorg

Teresa V CoxExecutive Director

Dr Lauren CrawfordPlastic Surgon and Board Member

Dr Mary ZalvalaHead Anesthesiologist

Guatemala SpokespeopleldquoFor the communities we serve Austin Smiles means hope Children living with cleft lip and palate related conditions generally suffer from respiratory speech and other health issues Through surgery the additional health concerns will be corrected andor mitigated enabling our patients to live healthy livesrdquo

ldquoThe mission of Austin Smiles is to directly improve the quality of lives by providing access to plastic surgical services to children unable to otherwise get treatment These surgeries are life changing Without these surgeries eating can be difficult speaking can be difficult and social barriers to attaining education jobs and even marriage can be hugerdquo

ldquoOne of my uncles had a cleft lip and palate and was not repaired until he was an adult by a group like Austin Smiles He was so proud he had pictures taken and sent to us in the US from El Salvador The surgeries changed the way he saw himself and the way others saw him We do the same for these children and their families changing something that brings shame to something that brings priderdquo

bull Executive Director of Austin Smiles since July 2017

bull Practices therapeutic art with waiting room patients

bull Excited to go on her first trip with Austin Smiles to Guatemala

bull Native Chilean and bilingual

bull One of the youngest plastic surgeons in Austin and one of our youngest board members

bull Excited to go on her third mission to Guatemala in a row

bull Loves Guatemala and the people- has a close friend from Guatemala

bull Pediatric Anesthesiologist

bull Excited to go on her seventh mission trip with Austin Smiles and fourth trip to Guatemala

bull Salvadorian giving back to her community with medicine

bull Strong connection to Guatemala with local family

copyCopyright 2017 Austin Smiles All rights reserved wwwAustinSmilesorg

Fact Sheet80+ Mission Trips

Brazil Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Micronesia

Nicaragua and the Philippines

1 in 7

Central Texas

children is born with cleft lip andor palate

$675000+

$296000+

cost of mission trip

inkind professional services and supplies

+

+

$3500cost of each surgery

each child receives a

after surgery

Bear

T-Shirt

800+ Patients

Austin Smiles collaborates with theCraniofacial and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Center at

Dell Childrenrsquos Medical Center of Central Texassupporting

18000+ 6800+lives

changed1surgeries

performed1

135+

30th

100+mission tripvolunteers2

Austin programvolunteers2

2per year

130 years

anniversary Austin Smiles

founded in

1987

copyCopyright 2017 Austin Smiles All rights reserved wwwAustinSmilesorg

Blog Newsletter Press

Media

Thank you

copy Anneke Patersoncopy Natalia de Photography

copy Austin Smiles - The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization creating smiles and improving lives in Latin America

and providing support to cleft patients at the Dell Childrenrsquos Medical Center of Central Texas